Act IV: Envoys from the Shogun Approach Lady Kaoyo and Group at Enya's Castle, Bringing...

In 1701, 47 ronin (leaderless samurai) avenged their Ako daimyo (when he was forced to commit suicide for assaulting a court official) by killing the official, thus obliging the ronin also to commit seppuku for the crime. Fictionalized accounts celebrating loyalty, sacrifice and honour (set in the earlier Muromachi period to avoid Shogunate censorship) are known as Chūshingura (Treasury of loyal retainers) and include an 11 act kabuki play. This print illustrates Act IV (Yondanme) in which the daimyo, Enya Hangan, with his wife Lady Kaoyo, receives the order to kill himself.